Sunward Mini Excavators

On job sites throughout New Zealand

The growth in China’s construction equipment market has been staggering over the last few years. In 2011, one in every two construction machines sold worldwide will be sold in China. Hand-in-hand with this staggering growth is new construction equipment from manufacturers unheard of 10 years ago.

One of the new players to emerge from the dramatic growth is Sunward. Starting out back in 1999 with an abandoned warehouse and a loan of 500,000Y (about NZ$100,000), Sunward has turned into a global supplier of quality earthmoving, foundation and mining machinery. With sales in 2010 of US$419 million, Sunward jumped into 44th place on international construction’s Top 50 table for the first time. To put that into perspective, some names us Kiwis are probably more familiar with in this area of the table are Takeuchi (42nd) and Kubota (34th). With sales estimated to grow strongly again in 2011, Sunward will take another big jump up the table when the list is released in 2012. Due to this growth, Sunward has had to constantly find new lodgings to house its ever increasing demand for manufacturing space.

The SWE18A trenching in the Waikato

Sunward’s manufacturing
facilities are world class

Sunward is the largest manufacturer
of foundation equipment in Asia

Sunward’s excavator range goes up to 47 tonnes

Currently, Sunward is spread across four large industrial parks, and Mr Qinghua He, president and founder of Sunward, has just broken ground on the Sunward Industrial City. This new manufacturing base is a staggering 1.78km2 factory. Sunward says it will invest a total of US$700 million in the plant, making it the largest foundation equipment factory anywhere in the world and the largest excavator plant in southern China. Sunward’s growth has seen its product range increase in kind. The company offers: excavators, from 900kg through to 47 tonnes; rotary drilling rigs, from 16 tonnes through to 136 tonnes; static pile drivers, from 82 tonnes through to 1200 tonnes; skid steer loaders; forklifts and telehandlers.

Customers are having to look at their costs: when they see two machines that match up on paper and operate to the same high degree, they have to seriously ask themselves – why would I pay thousands more for one over the other?” Sunward excavators are running big brand hydraulics and engines, and come with a three-year/3000-hour limited warranty, so purchasers know they are buying a good quality product. A Sunward SWE17 recently made a Guinness World Record, driving the length of Finland, nearly 1000km, over 28 days without a breakdown.

In New Zealand, Sunward has been represented by Endraulic for nearly five years. Blair Sargison, sales manager at Endraulic, says: “We’ve been really pleased with the product and its acceptance in our market. We have machines working all over the country with all kinds of different businesses. Most pleasing has been the sales that have come to us from customer referrals and repeat business. This shows that the product is good and it’s the best marketing we could possibly have. “I think the tough market conditions over the past three years have, in some aspects, Sunward’s excavator range goes up to 47 tonnes Sunward is the largest manufacturer of foundation equipment in Asia Sunward’s manufacturing facilities are world class Sunward has broken ground on its latest plant at 1.78km2 worked in our favour.